Bank accounts outside of Canada
 

Hey all,

Just curious, if you have bank accounts outside of Canada, do you have to report them on your tax returns? Or if the balance is under a certain amount, you don't have to say anything.

I have an account in Korea and in China, but both do not have a high balance. I don't have any forms from those bank accounts sent to my address in Canada or anything, so I am not sure if the Canadian government will know or even if they care. Do they?

Thanks

let's just say

God I hope not

Does anyone else know? I am sure you probably don't need to notify revenue Canada, but now I am just curious for the definite answer. Thanks :)

You have to report all worldwide income you make on your tax return, including income you make off of your off-shore bank accounts. i.e. interest income.

IF you were following the law to the T.

I did a coop term for CRA answering phone calls and I remember getting that a lot lol. If you just have an account with money in it, there's no need to report how much you have in it. BUT if you're gaining capital gains, interest, or getting some type of investment return on your account...the money you gain needs to be reported even if it's less than a dollar. What they love to do is take everything slow and then bite you back for it a few years later if you don't report it and demand you to pay some crazy daily compounded interest amount.